Well, no surprise of course. The sad truth is that almost every single airport you visit anywhere in the world provides a better passenger experience than almost every UK airport.
A couple of things still amaze me. First, whenever BAA get their marketing heads together for another brainstorm "hey guys, how do we improve the customer experience blah"?, all it seems to produce is ghastly retail initiatives. If only they would actually ask the customer, just once.
Second I think BA are too willing to play the victim card at Heathrow. I like BA, and rate them well above average. BA spend a lot of marketing (and other) dollars to sustain that opinion in me. But since they abandoned the provinces, I avoid BA whenever possible as it involves LHR transit. What is BA doing to maximise its wasted marketing dollars with me? Surely they can concoct a few bright ideas to help the rest of the UK transit through Heathrow, BAA or no BAA? Where's the innovation?
Rainboe or Paxboy (forget who) made a very good point about BA strategically contracting its business, but if they helped fix LHR transit they'd rocket their business overnight. Maybe T5 will fix this, we'll see. As it is I defect from my favourite airline as soon as another carrier opens a direct routing from Man or indeed anywhere that avoids LHR transit.
Ah Manchester, but that's another story too. Remember the old classy T1, landside with the Venetian chandeliers, airside with big glassy spaces overlooking the apron. All gone as they pursue the retail dollar. Which idiot plonked up that pre-fab WH Smiths, totally blocking out the multi-£m glass exterior wall so lovingly built not 10 years ago?
